Message-register system



Dec. 29, 1925- 1,567,266

E. E.'HINRICHSEN MESSAGE REGISTER SYSTEM Filed March 27, 1924 Mary/hm Fatenteol 51st. 29,

UNITE s'rares PATENT orr ce.

EDWARD E. HINRICHSEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCGRPORATED, OF NE'W YORK, N. Y., A CORIORATIGN OF NEVJ YORK.

MESSAGE-REGISTER SYSTEM.

Application filed March 27, 1924. Serial No. 702,235.

To all 10/ 10111 i may 22 0mm Be it known that I, E wnnn E. HINRIGH- SEN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New York city, in the 5 county of New York, State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MessageRegister Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to message register systems and more particularly to party line message registering systems for preventing the false registration of calls at a central oiiice.

In party line message register systems as generally employed in automatic telephone syste-ms where each subscriber on the line is equipped with an impulse sending device, means is usually provided whereby a calling party by the operation of the sender is identified at the central office in such a manner that a record is made of the call on a message registering device individual to that party.

It is the object of this invention to provide a circuit arrangement to prevent the registration of a call if the identical identifying characteristic established at the first operation of the sender is not repeatedly applied at'each succeeding operation of the sender.

Another object is to provide means in a circuit of this type whereby an alarm signal is operated at the central otlice in place of the registering device if the identification is "hot correctly applied or received.

Another object is to provide means whereby if any disturbances occur on the line between series of impulses, the call is not registered and the alarm signal actuated.

To attain these objects in accordance with one feature of the invention there is provided a relay arrangement including a marginal relay which operates when the identifying condition individual to one party is present on the line but does not operate when the identifying condition of the other party is present on the line. The operation or non-operation of this relay causes circuits to be established for the control and operation of the registering device corresponding to the party calling. On the other hand, if the originally established identifying characteristics are not uniformly applied at the succeeding operations of the sender the marginal relay will in case it was originally energized fail to operate when the identifving condition changes and in case it was not originally energized a change in the identifying condition will cause it to opera e. In either case this change in the operating conditions causes a central relay to become energized to break a control circuit for the registering devices and establish the circuit for the alarm signal.

Another feature is the provision of a relay arrangement in which certain relays are maintained operated, while others are released after an operation of the sender if a ground is present on the line at this time, such a condition causing a circuit to be established to operate the central relay to prevent the registration of the ball and to operate the alarm signal.

The invention has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing in which is shown a two-party subscribers line with the telephone sets of subscribers A and B shown in detail. This line is connected at the central office to a line finder switch LF shown diagrammatically. The brushes of the line finder are shown connected to a repeater circuit R which embodies a circuit and relay arrangen'ient in accordance with this invention. It should be understood that this repeater circuit may be connected to any type of automatic switching equipment, which will by means of impulses repeated thereto, establish connections to a wanted subscribers line. Such equipment has, however, been omitted as it forms no part of this invention, it being sufficient to say that impulses are repeated for this purpose by the opening of the main conductors of the repeater R shown at the right of the condensers included therein.

It is thought that the invention as disclosed in this repeater circuit will be best understood if a call from both parties A and B is described in detail and followed by a description in which it will be assumed that such disturbing conditions prevail as will bring about the operation of the alarm signal and the prevention of the registration of a call.

Referring now to the drawing and assuming that the subscriber A is desirous of esground.

tablishing a connection, his first action would be to remove the receiver from the hook thereby connecting his line through the line finder as is well known in the art/ and establishing the following circuit; battery, left- ,hand winding of differential relay 10, windii'i'g of relay 11, conductor 12, a line finder brush and contact, through the telephone set of subscriber A, a line finder contact and brush, conductor 13, winding of marginal relay 14, right-hand winding of relay to 1 This circuit causes the operation of relay 11 but not the operation of the marginal relay 14 and differential relay 10. The operation of relay 11 closes a circuit for slow release relay 15 as follows: battery, winding of relay 15, left-hand armature and front contact of relay 11 to ground." The operation of relay 15 establishes a circuit for the usual cut-off relay 16 at its inner left-hand armature and front contact over an obvious circuit and for a purpose well known in the art. The circuit of the repeater R is now in condition to receive dialing impulses which may be repeated therethrough to establish connection to a wanted subscriber.

If now the subscriber A, operates his dial 17, the off-normal contacts 18, thereof connect the. line to ground through the ringer 19. This connection to ground unbalances the windings for relay 10 and causes it to operate, but, due to the resistance of the ringer windings, the marginal relay 14 is not operated this time. The operation of the differential relay 1O establishes a lookingcircuit for itself through the righthand winding, inner armature and front contact to, battery at the lefthand armature and back; contact of the slow release relay 20 and at its middle right-hand armature and front contact establishes a circuit for the register control relay 21 as follows: battery, winding of register control relay 21, armature and back contact of relay 14, middle right-hand armature and front contact of relay 10 to ground. The register control re lay 21 operates and establishes a locking circuit for itself at its outer left-hand armature and front contact to a ground at the enter left-hand armature and front contact of relay 1 5, as shown. The repeated interruption of the circuit for relay 11 by the impulse contacts of dial 17 causes this relay to alternately release and operate and alternately close and open at its right-hand arma ture and back contact the bridge circuit for conductors 22 and 23 thus causing the opera tion of automatic switches in accordance with the first digit of the number wanted, as. is well known in the. art, Also, on the first release of relay 11, a circuit for relay 2%- is established asfollows: battery, winding of relay 24, right-hand armature and back contact of polarized relay 26, righthand armature. and front contact relay 15,

left-hand armature and-back contact of relay 11 to ground. This circuit energizes relay which ismaintained energized throughout the entire series of interruptions due to its slow-.to-release characteristic. It should be mentioned that relay 15 is also maintained energized during these operations due to its slow-to-release operating characteristic. The operation of relay 24 establishes an obvious energizing circuit for relay 20 at its inner right-hand armature and front contact causing relay 20 to pull up its armatures. The operation of these two relays transfers the locking circuit for relay 10 from relay 20 to relay 24. That is, the battery at the outer right-hand armature and front contact of relay 24 is substituted for the battery at the left-hand armature and back contact of relay 20 so that the release of relay 10 is now under control of relay 24 ll hen the dial 17 returns to normal after the first series of impulses, the permanent enec g -ization of relay 11 causes relay 24 to, re iease thereby opening the locking circuit for relay 10 which new releases. The release of relay 24 also causes the release of relay 20 but due to its slow to release characteristics, this release does not take place until after relay 10 has released. These operations as described are repeated at every succeeding operation of dial 17, that is, relays 11 and 15 are maintained energized and relays 24, 20 and 10 are released between each series of impulses.

At the end of the last series of impulses it will be assumed that the wanted subscribers line has been found and run in the well known manner and when now the wanted subscriber removes his receiver from the hook, a reversal of the current over conductors 22 and 23 takes place causing the operation of the polarized relay 26 as is also well known in the art. Relay 26, in operating, closes a locking circuit for itself from battery through the left-hand winding, left-hand armature and front contact to ground at the left-hand ar naturtt and front contact of relay The operation of relay 26 also establishes a circuit that will cause the operation of the message register 28 individual to subscriber A immediately after his receiver is hung up.

hen the calling subscriber A hangs up his receiver, relay 11 releases and completes the circuit for the operation of the message 120 register 28 as follows: battery, winding of message register 28, a contact and brush of line finder LF, inner left-hand armature and front contact of message register control relay 21, the outer right-hand armature and back contact of alarm control relay 29. right-hand armature and front contact of relay 26, right-hand armature and front contact of relay 15, left-hand armature-and ack eent of lay 11 to ground. This circuit is however only momentarily maintained as it is broken as soon as relay 15 releases due to the release of relay 11. This release of relay 15 also opens at its outer left hand armature and front contact the locking circuits for the message register control relay 21 and the polarized relay 2-6. Thus the individual message register 28 Corresponding to the subscriber A has been properly operated due to the individually identifying condition established at the offnormal contacts 18 of dial 1'? which in this case was ground through resistance 19. V

'The corresponding identifying condition of subscriber B is a direct ground at the offnormal contacts 31 of his dial 230 and when subscriber B therefore operates the dial this ground will not only cause the operation of relay 10 but also the operation of the marginal relay let. The circuit for the marginal relay 1 1 will, in this instance, be the circuit from battery at the lefthand armature and back contact of relay 20, the inner right hand armature and front contact of relay 1O winding of relay 14, conductcr 13, a brush and contact of line finder Li through the off-normal contacts 31 of dial 30 to ground. Now, therefore, at the operation of relays 10 and 14:, a circuit for register control relaj 32 will be established in place of the circuit for the register control relay 21 which was energized when the subscriber A operated his dial. This circuit is as follows: Battery, winding of relay 32, arn'iature and front contact of relay 1%, middle right-hand armature and contact of relay 10 to ground. The operations of the circuit are, in this instance, the same as when subscriber A manipulated his dial with the exception, of course, that the message register 33 individual to the subscriber B is operated wnen the wanted subscriber answers and polarized relay 26 is operated. This circuit is as follows: Battery, winding of message register 33, a contact and brush of line tinder LF, inner right-hand armature and front contact of message register control relay 32, outer right-hand armature and back contact of alarm control relay 29, right-hand armature and front contact of polarized rcla y 26, right-hand armature and front contact of relay 15, left-hand armature and back contact of r lay 11 to ground. According to these circuits, therefore, the operation of message register 28 or 33 depends on the rum-operation or operation of the marginal relay 14: during the selecting operations by subscriber A or B.

it will now be assumed that some disturbing condition is present 011 the line during the ope ation of the dial 17, as, for example, the operation by subscriber B of his dial 30 which would cause a ground to be put on conductor 13. This round would then operate relay 14 which would cause the message register control relay 32 to operate and lock up with the mes sage register control '21 which was operated when the cit-normal contact of dial 1? was closed. relays will then cause the operatioirof the alarm control relay 29 over a circuit as follows: Battery, right-hand armature of alarm control relay 29, outer right'hand armature and front contact of message register control relay 21, armature and front contact of marginal relay l l, middle righthand armature and front contact of relay 10 to ground. The alarm control relay 2.) establishes a locking circuit for through its right-hand arn'iaturc and its inner right-hand armature and contact to ground at relay 15 and at its left-hand armature and contact establishes an energizing circuit for the signal 34-. The operation of the signal 3st, notifies the attendant at the central office that an unstandard con dition is present on the circuit for the party line of subscribers It and B and an investigation of the circuit conditions may be made. It will also be noted that this alarm control relay opens the control circuit for the message registers at its outer right-hand armature and back contact so as to pre vent the operation of the registers. The alarm control relay 29 is released as soon as the subscribers hang up in the same manner as any of the other relays locked up from ground at the outer left-hand armature of relay 15.

On the other hand, if any undesirable condition should arise during the manipulation of his dial 230 by subscriber B, such as the operation at the same time of dial 1'? by subscriber A, or due to a ground on either conductor of the line, differential relay 10 will be maintained operated after marginal relay 1 L has been released, that is, after the all normal contact of dial 30 has been opened. The maintenance of relay 10 will cause the operation of the alarm 3-l as follows: It will be noted that when relay 20 is first operated it closes at its right-hand arn'iature and front contact a circuit for relay 35 as follows: Battery, winding of relay 35, right-hand armature and front contact of relay 20, middle righthand armature and front contact of relay 10 to ground. Relay 35 establishes a locking circuit for ilsc f from its left-hand armature and front contact to this ground at the middle contact, middle armature and front contact of relay 10 independent of the armature of relay 20. 'lhere'l'orc if relay 10 is maintained energized, by any nnstandard condition on the line, a circuit will be established for the alarm control relay when relay 20 is released after a series of impulses has been sent. This circuit is as follows: Battery right-hand The operation of these two itself winding of alarm control relay ZQ righthand armature and back contact of relay 20, left-hand armature and front contact of relay 35, middle armature and front contact of relay 10 to ground. The purpose of relay 35 being toestablish this energiz ing circuit for the alarm control relay when relay 10 is operated after relay 20 has released. The operation of alarm control relay 29 thus in this instance also causes the operation of the alarm 84- and prevents the operation of the registers.

In other words this relay arrangement at the repeater R, prevents the operation of the message registers on a two-party line and operates an alarm signal when an unstandard condition occurs on the line regardless of whether it was due to one party interfering with the establishment of a connection by the other party or whether it was due to a condition such as a ground not caused by either of the subscribers. It is also evident that the functioning of the circuit in this respect depends on the improper operation of the marginal relay 14 or the maintaining of the differential relay l0 operated after a series of impulses have been sent.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of operating a party-line message register automatic telephone system consisting in establishing an identifying condition at each selective operation of the calling subscriber whereby a meter corresponding to the callingsubscriber may be operated when the called party answers, and preventing the operation of the meter if the identifying condition established at the successive selective operations by the calling subscriber are not identical.

2. The method of operating a party-line message register automatic telephone system consisting in establishing identifying conditions during each selective operation of .the calling subscriber whereby a meter corresponding to the calling subscriber may be operated when the called party answers, preventing the operation of the meter if the identifying condition established at the suc-- cessive selective operations by the calling subscriber are not identical and notifying the attendant at a central oiiice when an unstandard identification occurs.

3. The method of operating a party-line message register automatic telephone sys tern in which a. wanted subscriber is reached by selector operations of a sender consisting in establishing a condition at each operation of the sender to identify the calling subscriber at the central ofiice, operating the corresponding register when the called party answers only if the identifying conditions individual to the calling subscriber are established at each succeeding operation of the sender.

The method of operating a party-line message register automatic telephone system in which certain identifying conditions are set up representing each party on a party line so that when the callis completed and the wanted subscriber answers a recording device corresponding to the calling party is actuated v consisting in the operation and restoration of means responsive to each selective operation of the calling subscriber for causing the actuation of the recording device, and to prevent the operation of the recording device if the said operation and restoration of the means at each selective operation of the calling subscriber is not identical.

5. The method of operating a party-line message register automatic telephone system in which a subscriber when calling establishes a certain individually identifying condition at the central office at each operationv of the dial, to extend a connection to 'a calling party, resulting in the registration ofethe call on an individually assigned record-ing device when the called subscriber 0 answers, consisting in preventing the registration of a call by establishing a change in the identifying condition after the first operation of the dial.

6. In a party line message register sysmeter if the identifying means is not so operated.

8. In a party line message register system sending apparatus, a meter for each party at the central office, means dependent on the successive operation of said sending apparatus for identifying each party calling, means for operating the meter of the party calling when the identifying means is operated, and means for disturbing said identifying means if another party on the same line is initiating a call to prevent the operation of any of the meters.

9. In a party line message register system a dial, a meter for each party at the central office, means. dependent on the successive operation of said dial for identify ing each party calling, means for operating the meter of the party calling when the identifying means isoperated and means for disturbing said identifying means if 1 iii any condition other than the correct identifying condition is present on the line while the call is made to prevent the operation of any of the meters.

10. In a party line message register system, a meter for each party on the line at the central ofiice, a dial for each party, means responsive to the successive operation and restoration of the dial individual thereto whereby each party on the line respectively establishes an identifying condition on the line while making a call, means at the central ofiice responsive to such identifying conditions for operating the meter of the calling party when the call is completed, and. means responsive to a change in character of the identifying conditions to prevent the meter of the calling party from operating.

11. In a party line message register sys' tem, a meter for each party on the line at the central office, a dial for each party, means operative responsive to the successive operation of said dial individual thereto whereby each party respectively establishes an identifying condition on the line while making a call, means at the central office responsive to such identifying condition for operating the meter of the calling party when the call is completed, means responsive to a change in the character of the identifying condition to prevent the meter of the calling party from operating, and a signal actuated when said last mentioned means responds.

12. In a telephone system, a line, a plurality of stations on said line, each inclucb ing a calling device arranged to place a characteristic current indication on the line when said calling device is moved off its normal posit-ion, means at the central office responsive to the characteristic indication from a calling subscriber, a separate recording means associated with and prepared for such action by each responsive means while a party is calling, means for actuating said recording means when a called party answers, and means for preventing the actuation of an associated recording means if any characteristic condition is present on the line other than that produced by the sender of a calling partyv 13. In a telephone system, calling devices, means whereby a plurality of subscribers on a line may apply identifying conditions to the line while making a call responsive to the successive actuation of said calling devices, means at the central office responsive selectively to the identifying conditions from each subscriber for recording a call, means responsive to a change in the character of an identifying condition after the first identifying condition has been received for leaving the call unrecorded, and a signaling device operated when said last mentioned means responds to indicate that no record has been made of the call.

14. In a telephone system, a meter, the combination of an impulse sending device with selective means responsive to a series of impulses therefrom when said impulses are all of the same kind to cause the actuation of said meter and responsive to a change in the character of the impulses during the series to prevent the operation of said meter.

15. In a telephone system, impulse sending devices, a plurality of meters, means responsive to a series of impulses of one kind from one of said devices to cause the opera tion of one of said meters, means responsive to a series of impulses of another kind from another of said devices to cause the operation of another of said meters, said two means being responsive to an interchange in the character of the impulses to prevent the operation of any of said meters.

16. In a telephone system, impulse sending devices, a meter responsive to a series of impulses of one kind from one of said devices, another meter responsive to a series of impulses of another kind from another of said devices, neither of said two meters being responsive upon a change in the character of the impulses, and a means including an alarm signal responsive to a change in the character of any of said impulses.

17. In a telephone system, a line, a plurality of subscribers stations on said line, each comprising a dial and means for sending an impulse of an individually identifying character over the line each time the dial is operated, relays in said line responsive to any impulses sent over the line regardless of their character, another relay in the line controlled by one of the first mentioned relays and responsive only to the identifying impulses from the dial of one of said subscribers stations, a control relay for each subscribers station, a circuit for each of said control relays closed to operate the corresponding relay when the proper character of impulses are received to actuate the corresponding combination of relays, means for closing both of said circuits to operate both of said relays if the character of impulses changes after the first opera tion of the dial, a recording device for each subscribers station, a circuit for each recording device partly prepared by the operation of the corresponding relay, means for closing either one of said last mentioned circuits to operate the corresponding re cording device when a called subscriber answers, and means for opening both of said circuits to prevent the registration from taking place if both of the control relays are operated.

18. The method of registering calls in a party line automatic telephone system which consists in establishing a characteristic iii) ill)

identifying condition at a given point upon each selective operation of the calling subscriber, establishing a record of said condition at another point checking said record for identity and operating a registering device it' said checking'proves identity or establishing a condition which will prevent registration if said checking proves nonidentity.

EDVJARD EQHINRICHSEN. I 

